Westfield Food Pop-Up Competition
Westfield London, in partnership with Tapas Revolution, has announced the UK’s best up-and-coming culinary talent following a tense cook-off at Westfield London. Mehak Kansal, founder of Bindas, an Indian fusion kitchen won Westfield’s Food Pop-Up Competition with an innovative idea of combining traditional Indian flavours with British dishes. Bindas has won a summer residency at Europe’s largest shopping centre, Westfield London. The pop-up kitchen will join the centre’s 80 dining outlets providing an exciting new option for London’s food fans.
Mehak Kansal won over the judges with an inventive new dining concept, celebrating British ingredients in Indian cooking, having observed that traditional Indian ingredients are rarely fresh in the UK. She plans to use recyclable, eco-efficient ways of presenting and cooking at the Bindas pop-up. Four finalists were invited to participate in a live cooking pitch in front of a panel of judges including; Omar Allibhoy, chef and founder of Tapas Revolution, Richard Vines, Bloomberg’s Chief Food Critic, Jonathan Prynn, London Evening Standard’s Consumer Business Editor, Jeremy Pang, founder of School of Wok and Rachel Belam, Westfield’s Head of Food & Beverage Leasing. Mehak impressed with a signature dish of ‘The Butter Chicken Bomb’.
She will receive one of a kind personal mentoring from Omar Allibhoy himself, who founded Tapas Revolution following the advice from his mentors; Ferran Adria and Gordon Ramsay. Omar will help establish the dining space at Westfield London, enabling Mehak to launch the Bindas business and sample her food with visitors to the centre.
Myf Ryan, CMO Europe and Group Director of Brand and Strategic Marketing for Unibail-Rodamco-Westfield. “Westfield is passionate about innovation, particularly in the food and drink space. It’s clear we’re a nation of foodies as there were such strong entries to the competition. We’re thrilled that Mehak will join our 80-strong line-up of dining outlets at Westfield London, offering a unique experience to our shoppers.”
Omar Allibhoy, Chef and Founder of Tapas Revolution commented: “We were blown away by the skill of Mehak, I can’t wait to start mentoring her. I believe it’s important to nurture new talent in the hospitality industry, we’ll be getting started right away! I’m thrilled to be working with Westfield to provide a culinary opportunity of a lifetime.”
Source: https://www.hospitalityandcateringnews.com/2018/06/westfield-london-tapas-revolutions-omar-allibhoy-announce-food-pop-winner/